Home Sweet Home
by AStudyInScarletxx
Summary: It's 2015, and Allerdale Hall has fallen into the hands of Guinevere Hepsworth and her mother through a more than generous, and now deceased, boss. What will happen when the house that has laid dormant for so long, gets a more than curious occupant? Will the ghosts come out and play? (not an oc/Thomas or Lucille fic)


**Hello everyone. This is an idea that I've had on my mind for a while now, it was just this starting point that has been bugging me for days. So I'm just testing it out. If you like it and wish me to continue then please let me know, and I will build the story xx.**

 **Chapter One:** ** _Home Sweet Home_**

I watched as the world passed by. Nothing but a blur of trees and grey skies, holding the impending threat of a heavy downpour. We had left Sheffield roughly two hours ago, leaving behind us all the tall buildings and bright lights. We were currently in the middle of nowhere, our destination was the new house that mother's boss had generously left her in his will. He did have a soft spot for her. Although, what elderly gentleman didn't favour a young and attractive woman over his crone of a wife? No my mother did not sleep with him, she was just an exceptional employee and they got along like a house on fire. Although Mrs Johnson did not see it that way. It was quite the scandal, a prominent business man leaving his secretary the manor house in the country but not his dear wife. There was a heavy tension present in the air for days, but now that was all behind us.

My mother hummed a soft tune as she drove down the light grey roads, adorned with pot holes created by weathering and neglect. Hardly anyone ventured out here anymore, and I could see why. The further we travelled into the country, the more barren it became. Trees were now scarce, and whatever ones there were, had dark twisting trunks and skeletal branches that tried to claw for the sky. Long, overgrown grass that resembled the amazon. Well, this land was not suitable for agriculture, so there would be no benefit for even a farmer to live out here. I glanced at the side mirror of the car, no lines of traffic. No hustle and bustle of city life. Nothing but the moving van following us at a leisurely pace. I huffed in irritation, turning to my mother and placing my feet on the edge of the dashboard, "How much longer is it going to take?" I questioned, deciding to use my phone as entertainment. She bit her lip in thought, eyes never leaving the road as she estimated, "I would say, oh I don't know, about another hour." I groaned in irritation, throwing my head against the back of the car seat,

"Really?" She only nodded. I let out a strangled whine. The car was stuffy, the broken heater blasting out hot air in short spurts. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but with the windows up and three live bodies in the car, the heat became unbearable. I tried to pass the time by flicking through apps on my phone at random, but that held little interest and I soon placed my phone back into the pocket of my denim jeans. I craned my neck to get a view of the backseat, a standard cat basket was wedged in-between personal belongings. Inside, was a large black mass of fur, softly rising and falling with each breath taken. Loosening the seatbelt, I reached over and grasped the plastic handle before raising the basket at an awkward angle. The cat didn't move, mealy raised his head only to see no danger, before resting it between his paws again. I cautiously moved the basket over the front seats and onto my curled up knees, the front of the basket mere inches away from my face. Mother scoffed, "Why did you have to move him? He was all settled."

"He still is." I observed, poking my finger through the metal bars to pet the cat. He made a startled noise, before bending his head to face the object touching him. Once his large green eyes, saws that it was in fact his owner merely bestowing affection, he meowed and shuffled around until my finger was stroking his head. Soon, light purring filled the air. Hyde, the cat, was a scrawny little thing. Adopted as a kitten, when I found him wandering the streets in the rain. I named him Hyde because I was obsessed with Robert Louis Stevenson's famous book at the time. That was five years ago. Now, sixteen and God knows what age, we were on our way to a shabby little manor in the middle of nowhere, with a woman whose age will remain a secret out of sheer politeness.

I spent the rest of the hour petting Hyde, until he fell asleep once again. Mother slowed down as she came to the boarders of a small village, composed of stone, wood, glass and elderly citizens having a pint at the local pub. All the little ones would have been finishing up their last day at school before the summer term came to a close. I had finished some weeks ago, after my GCSEs, and would be starting at the local collage or Sixth Form soon once the holidays came to a close. Mother slowly navigated the car through the narrow streets, and it seemed nice enough. A friendly atmosphere. There was a discomfort in my bladder, that had been steadily growing for the past half hour. I tried all the usually tricks to fend it off; trying not to thing of running water, shaking my legs but it was all futile at this point. I turned to my mother, "Mum, is there anywhere you can pull up? I need the loo."

"Can't you hold it? We'll be there soon."

"How soon?"

"Like twenty minutes, I don't know."

"I can't hold it that long." She huffed, her eyes scanning the foreign surroundings until she indicated and pulled up on the side of the road near a post office. The van pulled up beside her, and she shouted at them to carry on without them. They nodded and drove into the distance. We were on the edge of the small village now. She turned to me, pulling the basket from my lap and nestling it in its previous place, "Right, go into the post office and use the toilet. I'll grab us a couple of treats for tonight shall I?" She said, quickly grabbing her purse and exiting the car. Undoing my seatbelt I followed suit, welcoming the cool breeze that caressed my sweating being. I breathed a sigh of relief, before slamming the car door shut and running past my mother and into the post office. It was quiet, only a young boy roughly my age behind the counter talking to a young girl. I hurried over to them, startling them with my frantic actions ,"Excuse me, could you direct me to the toilet?" I questioned. The girl pulled a face, and pointed a finger past me,

"It's over there, with the sign that says toilet." I flushed red in embarrassment before mumbling out my gratitude. I turned and saw the sign, then rushed to relieve myself.

Once the deed was done, I exited the toilet and wandered over to the young teens and gave my gratitude once more. The girl, was tall and pale with pastel hair and eyeliner so sharp it could cut. The boy, again tall with a toned torso, brown hair and hazel eyes etc. Both ordinary people with pretty faces. The girl offered me a smile, warmth shining in her blue eyes, "Feel better?" I merely nodded. She curled her lips inwards in thought, before continuing the conversation, "So, you passing through or visiting or?" She waved her hands in the air before clasping them under her chin, burgundy sleeves pulled up to her mid palm. I shook my head to clear any thoughts and replied,

"Uh no, I'm moving here." The boy leaned on the counter, hair falling over his eyes slightly like a curtain,

"Sweet." Girl rolled her eyes,

"What he means to say, is that its nice to meet you. I'm Jessica." She offered her hand in a playful manner, that I accepted awkwardly. She then gestured to her male companion, "And this is Caleb." We exchanged nods, before I remembered my manners,

"I'm Guinevere." Jessica pursed her lips. I could imagine her saying the name over and over again in her head, getting a feel for how it sounded. All the while her eyes scanning me, assessing me. I must have passed her mental test because not a couple of seconds later she was offering me a large grin, "Traditional. I like it." Caleb shook the hair out of his eyes before he decided to take the conversation further,

"So, which house are you moving to?"

"Oh, I think it's got an actual name. It was given to us by someone in their will...uh, I think it's called Al-Aller- uh-" I stumbled over my words, trying to retrieve the name of the manor in my mind. Jessica shook her head in bafflement then leaned closer,

"Do you mean Allerdale Hall?" I snapped my fingers,

"That's it!" She and Caleb exchanged worried glances before she furrowed her brows at me,

"You're moving to Crimson Peak?"

"Crimson-what?" I inquired, now thoroughly confused. They let out little giggles, Jessica seeming not to believe what she was hearing and Caleb releasing short breaths though his teeth, before he elaborated for Jessica, "Crimson Peak. You're moving to Crimson Peak. That's what Allerdale Hall is known by the locals here."

"Why is it called Crimson Peak?"

"Because ages ago, some Baronet or another built Allerdale Hall above a clay mine. The clay was red for some reason. So, due to all the mining bringing the clay to the surface, whenever snow fell it would be tainted red. Hence, Crimson Peak. Clever of them right?" I pursed my lips, slightly disturbed with the new information I had been given,

"Yes very clever. Is the mine still active?" I wouldn't be surprised, as nice as he was, Mr Johnson, God rest his soul, was a money grabbing little shit. He wouldn't have minded some mining on the side for a few extra pennies. Jessica snorted,

"God no. That place in the 1800s or round-abouts was starting to sink because the mines were empty. It was in total disrepair. It was restored about fifty years ago, then renovations were made roughly ten years ago" -When Mr Johnson had bought it- "The mines have long since been filled in. If you dig deeper than the original mines, I bet you'll find a shit ton of red clay, but it's too dangerous. Shame too, the stuff's worth a fortune today. It's actually said that for the repairs, they used most of the remaining clay because it's rock solid when it sets. There's no way that house is sinking nowadays."

"If the mines are filled in, when the snow falls does it still turn red?" Jessica opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish, so Caleb was kind enough to answer for her,

"Not as much. I mean when they were still active, we were told the whole of the land was completely red, and we're talking deep red. I don't think it does as much now, but I bet it does within close proximity of the house because of the repairs."

"So I'll have a nice red boarder surrounding the exterior of the house?" Jessica nodded, curling her lips inwards again, straining the skin holding a piercing in the middle of her lip,

"Yeah, but it will be cool though." Just then footsteps could be heard and I turned my head to see my mother waltzing up to the counter with every dentists' worst nightmare in her hands. She gave us all a warm smile as she placed the treats on the counter, Caleb proceeding to run them through the till. Jessica leaned slightly over the counter, so she could be seen over my mother's head, 'Is that your mum?' She mouthed. I nodded, to which she gave me a thumbs up. So clearly mother had passed the test also. Mother turned to me, "So, making friends already are we?"

"Mum-" I reprimanded, but Jessica interjected. She jumped and stood in front of my mother, showing off one of the sweetest smiles I had ever seen. Caleb was going for a smoulder look, trying to seduce my mother's approval. Jessica held out her hand, "Yes she is. I'm Jessica and this is Caleb."

"Oh!" My mother exclaimed in excitement and taking Jessica's hand with enthusiasm, "I'm Amanda."

"That'll be £7.50 please miss." Caleb said, and mother fished the correct amount out of her purse before eagerly taking the bag of treats. She turned to me, quickly glancing at her watch,

"Right Gwen, we've got to get moving. Mr Johnson's lawyer is waiting there to give us the key." She said a polite goodbye to the others and swiftly exited the post office. I offered them an awkward wave,

"So I'll see you guys around?" Caleb nodded,

"Sure. Come into town whenever you're free. You'll most likely find us here or at the park, you know the one down the street?"

"Yeah, I saw it when I was coming in."

"Sweet. See you later Gwen."

"Bye." Jessica gave me a grin as I left. Without delay, I hoped into the car again just as mother started it up. As I was fastening my seatbelt, I saw those two giving me a wave out the window to which I returned just as the car lurched forward and into motion. Soon, Caleb; Jessica; the post office and the small village were behind us. I stared out the window for the remaining twenty minutes, the scenery much the same as before. The radio, which had been faintly playing as a bit of background noise, started to malfunction and pick up static. I pressed all the buttons and adjusted the volume, but nothing would work. Eventually, the signal gave out all together. I promptly checked my phone, fearing the worst. Unfortunately, all my fears were confirmed by the lone bar flickering every so often. I sighed, "There's no signal out here."

"There may be some hot spots around the house."

"I don't see why you didn't sell the house in the first place. We could have moved to a nicer part of Sheffield and had a lot of spare money left over." My mother huffed,

"Well I did think about that Gwen. I didn't think we could afford it, but he was rich enough to have bought it without a mortgage. I still had my doubts, so I asked the lawyer if we could sell it but he didn't want me going ahead with it without knowing what I was missing out on. He showed me some pictures, and Gwen the place is breath taking. It has a huge garden, countless bedrooms and it's remote. If I'm honest, it's the sort of place I would be wanting to move to when I'm older. But, I will never be able to afford a place like this so I'm taking it now."

"What about your job?" She gave me a side look through her narrowed eyes, and I giggled nervously whilst raising my shoulders to protect my neck should the python decide to strike,

"I was sacked by Mrs Johnson remember? So I'm going to go job hunting as soon as we're settled everything and running. Luckily for us, the telephone and broadcasting companies were able to connect us with the rest of the world when Mr Johnson paid them." I looked up and sure enough, there were lone cables on telephone masts heading straight for our destination.

Not twenty minutes later, we turned left down a road adorned with large rose bushes either side. The start of our drive way then. Mr Johnson must have loved this place, because he had gone to the extra time and money, much to his chagrin, to plant trees around the property, creating a light woodland. The trees towered tall over the drive, reaching towards the sky and closing over at the top for a dome like affect. I knew they were planted by man, because there were hardly any trees on our way up here and whatever ones there were, were dead. Mother was practically jumping in her seat with excitement, awestruck as she gazed upon her utopia come to life. We soon came to a pair of tall iron gates that were slightly wrought, and did I catch a whiff of fresh paint? Above the double gates read 'Allerdale Hall' in a soft and inviting font. We stood at a stand still as mother sent a text on her phone, and not a minute later the gates swung open automatically, welcoming us with open arms into our new home. She started the car again and we drove slowly. I gazed around the area. In the distance I could see a faint blob which was no doubt the house. The area beyond the stone walls, were abundant with trees, so many of them. Well, Mr Johnson liked his privacy. Perhaps he had a secret he was trying to hide? All around the garden, were the snow allegedly turned crimson, was a plush greenery decorated with trees, flower beds and tasteful garden ornaments that were designed to collect overgrowth along with stone benches. God the driveway was long, but eventually we came to the mouth of the manor. Stood on the front step, was the lawyer and to his left was the moving van and it's occupants awaiting our arrival. I hardly paid any attention to them.

Allerdale hall was the epitome of the gothic Victorian era. Words could not describe how large it was. It was dark in colour, fitting perfectly with the grey sky. Vines grew up the brick work, gargoyles openly sneered at the world on every ledge and nothing but the tallest French windows. Perfectly symmetrical in every way. The design was very elaborate, but it suited the manor. It was something out of a fairy tale. There was something in me, a small fibre of hope, desperately wishing that this was what it looked like when it was first built all those years ago. I was officially in love with the house, and was thanking Mr Johnson for bestowing it upon us, in whichever realm of the afterlife he may be in.

To sum it all up, Allerdale Hall was magnificent. My mother and I were silent as we exited the car, casting large grins at our new home. How far back did it go? The lawyer, a short and chubby man with rosy cheeks, stepped down the stone steps and before us as we craned our necks at a painful angle to stare at the tallest peak of the manor which seemed to be engulfed by the clouds. He was about to speak, but the sound of a cars tyres on the gravel behind us and his look of his displeasure directed my attention behind me. There, parking up was a sleek Rolls Royce. My mother looked positively petrified as the owner of the car stepped out, clad in fur and caked in makeup. I could have choked on the strong perfume that was wafted my way by the breeze. Mrs Johnson stood there, looking ready to murder. So much for home sweet home.


End file.
